Carrying device for garment hangers and the like

ABSTRACT

A device for carrying hangers of garments having a substantially C-shaped body member having a handle portion with a recess in its lower surface adapted to cooperate with a closet pole, and another portion disposed below the handle portion. A depending apertured member mounted on the other portion. A depending apertured member mounted on the other portion is in substantial vertical alignment with the recess and is adapted to receive and support the end portions of hangers.

United States Patent Inventor Samuel G. Bonasso 2768 University Ave., Morgantown, W. Va. 26505 Appl. No. 53,714

Filed July 10, 1970 Patented Jan. 1 1, 1972 Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 838,543, July 2, 1969, now abandoned. This application July 10, 1970, Ser. No. 53,7 14

CARRYING DEVICE FOR GARMENT HANGERS AND THE LIKE 2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl 224/45 T Int. Cl B651! 61/00 Field of Search .L 224/42.45, 45

References Cited I UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/l906 Johnson 2] H59 2,598,643 5/1952 Kuplan et a1 224/42.45 2,728,503 12/1955 Kramer 224/4245 R 2,769,587 11/1956 Threeton.. 224/45 2,782,974 2/1957 Borgfeldt.. 224/45 3,207,397 9/1965 Wilson 224/45 T 3,226,147 12/1965 Marshall... 294/15 3,313,460 4/1967 Hooker 224/45 3,317,055 5/1967 Roscicki... 224/45 T X Primary ExaminerGerald M. Forlenza Assistant Examiner-John Mannix Attorney-Sughrue, Rothwell, Mion, Zinn & Macpeak ABSTRACT: A device for carrying hangers of garments having a substantially C-shaped body member having a handle portion with a recess in its lower surface adapted to cooperate with a closet pole, and another portion disposed below the handle portion. A depending apertured member mounted on the other portion. A depending apertured member mounted on the other portion is in substantial vertical alignment with the recess and is adapted to receive and support the end portions of hangers.

PATENTED mu 1 I872 FIGS INVENTOR SAMUEL G. BONASSO ATTORNEYS CARRYING DEVICE FOR GARMENT HANGERS AND THE LIKE CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 838,543, filed on July 2, 1969, and now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION l. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a support for garments and more particularly to a support which can be comfortably held in the hand. When traveling or delivering clothing, most people transport the clothing on a standard wire coat hanger such as those used by drycleaning establishments. Such a means of transportation is very inconvenient and troublesome, especially when several hangers burdened with clothing are being carried at the same time. Often, the weight of the garments is considerable which results in a reduction of circulation in the hand of the user or damage to the hand by pinching. Additional disadvantages are encountered when an attempt is made to hang the garments in closets or storage areas such as those found in airplanes. The use of the novel device of the present invention overcomes the above-mentioned deficiencies by providing a simple, economical structure for transporting garments, draperies and similar articles.

2. Description of the Prior Art Hanger-carrying devices of the prior art have solved few of the problems associated with transporting a number of garments on hangers. These devices usually take theform of hand-held loops of metal to which the hooks of the hangers are attached. These loops are incapable of being attached to standard closet poles which necessitates removal of the hangers from the loop before storage. In addition, the loops of the prior art are usually made of a metal of such small cross-sectional area that there is little or no reduction in the discomfort experienced in the hand of the user due to the cutting off of blood circulation. Further, the hand of the user is often pinched if the garments encounter an object during transportation which causes the hanger hooks to slide on the loop.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention provides a device for transporting gannents or the like hung on conventional wire hangers and which eliminates the possibility of discomfort or damage to the hand of the user caused by loss of blood circulation or pinching of the skin and which at the same time can be easily hung on existing closet poles thus eliminating the necessity of removing the hangers from the device.

ln one embodiment, the invention comprises a steel rod bent in a substantially C-shaped configuration. One portion of the rod is curved and is covered with a flexible handle material such as rubber or plastic. A second portion of the rod is straight and positioned opposite the curved portion. An apertured member, such as a swivel clip or plain-type eye hook, is rotatably or otherwise secured to the end of the straight portion opposite the curved portion of supporting the books of the garment hangers.

A curved recess is provided on the inside surface of the flexible handle at a position opposite the depending eye hook, which recess is adapted to mate with the top portion of a closet pole or similar fixture to keep the garments hanging vertically.

In a second embodiment. the carrying or transporting device of the present invention is molded in one piece from a suitable high-impact plastic material, and comprises a substantially C-shaped rigid body member having a handle portion with a recess in the lower surface thereof adapted to cooperate with a closet pole or similar fixture. A second portion extends below the handle portion and has an apertured member that is substantially in vertical alignment with the recess, the apertured member being adapted to receive and support the and portions or hooks of garment hangers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view showing one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the handle portion taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view showing a second embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of the second embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIGS. I and 2, a garment support device 10 capable of transporting a plurality of garments has a substantially C-shaped rod 12 formed of steel, magnesium, plastic or any other suitable material. The rod 12 has a portion 14, the curvature of which permits easy gripping by the hand of the user. The rod 12 has a further curved portion 16 and another portion 18 which is shown as being straight but could be curved. The portion 18 is spaced from the curved portion 14 and has a fiat section 20 containing an aperture 22.

A handle 24 formed of rubber, plastic or other suitable material has a recess 26 part way through the center thereof to enable the handle 24 to be slid on the curved portion 14 of the substantially C-shaped rod 12. The handle 24 has a diameter considerably larger than that of a plurality of steel garment hangers 40 which results in a larger surface area and thus a reduction in the concentration of weight in the hands of the user. The handle 24 has a curved recess 28 on the underside thereof, the center of the recess 23 being substantially in alignment with the center of the aperture 22.

When the handle 24 of the device is placed over a closet pole 30 or other suitable fixture for hanging clothing, the recess 28 rests on top of the closet pole 30 as shown in FIG. 1. The center of gravity passes directly through the center of the recess 28, the center of the closet pole 30 and the center of the aperture 22 which keeps the straight portion 18 substantially horizontal when a downward force is exerted on fiat portion 20 by the carried clothing. The handle 24 also has a closed end portion 25 which prevents the handle from sliding on the rod 12 toward the curved portion 16. Alternatively, the C-shaped rod 12 and handle 24 could be integrally formed out of any suitable material such as plastic.

An apertured member, such as a swivel-type eye hook 32 is secured to and depends from the straight portion 18 by means of a shaft 34 positioned in aperture 22 and retained therein by an enlarged head portion 36. The eye hook 32 can have a resilient member 38 extending across the open portion of the hook which facilitates insertion of the curved end portion or hook 40 of a conventional wire garment hanger in the eye hook. The curved end portion 40 of the hanger need only be pressed against the resilient member 38 to position the hook 40 within the eye hook 32 thus eliminating the necessity of threading each hanger book 40 through the eye hook 32.

A second embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The modified garment support device is molded in one piece of a suitable high-impact plastic material such as polystyrene, and comprises a generally C-shaped rigid body 118 112 having an upper handle portion 114 and a depending portion 116. The handle portion 114 has a recess 118 in the underside thereof which is adapted to cooperate with a closet pole 130 shown in broken lines in FIG. 3.

The depending portion 116 terminates at its lower end in downwardly extending member 118 having an aperture 120 therein which is adapted to receive and support the end portions or books of garment hangers 140 or the like. The depending apertured member 18 is disposed in substantial alignment with the recess 117 in the underside of the handle portion 114 so that the weight of garments on the hangers 140 mounted in the aperture 120 of the depending member 118 will be concentrated at the center of the recess 116 in the bandle portion 114 and thus at the center of the closet pole on which the handle portion is mounted, thereby sewing to stabilize the carrying device 110 when it is mounted on a closet pole or the like.

As shown in FIG. 3, the handle portion 114 and depending l have disclosed a relatively simple and inexpensive device for carrying garments which has a large handle portion for comfortable carrying, a C-shape to enable it to be hung on conventional closet poles, and a depending apertured member positioned beneath the handle portion such that when the device is carried in the hand or placed on a closet pole, the garments always hang properly in the vertical direction.

I claim:

1. A device for carrying hangers of garments and the like comprising:

a substantially C-shaped rigid body member having a handle portion with a recess in the lower surface thereof adapted to cooperate with a closet pole, said handle portion being of sufficient length to be gripped comfortably by the hand of a user, and another portion below said handle portion, and

a depending support member mounted upon said other portion substantially in vertical alignment with said recess, said support member having an aperture extending therethrough which is adapted to receive and support the end portions of garment hangers in a manner such that the hangers are disposed in planes that are substantially the same as or parallel to the plane of the C-shaped body member,

said carrying device being formed in one piece of plastic material, and said handle portion and said other portion being recessed and being surrounded by a reinforcing rib.

2. A device for carrying hangers of garments and the like comprising:

a substantially C-shaped rigid body member having a handle portion with a recess in the lower surface thereof adapted to cooperate with a closet pole, said handle portion being of sufiicient length to be gripped comfortably by the hand of a user, and another portion below said handle portion, said other portion terminating below said recess and inwardly of the free end of said handle portion, and

a depending support member mounted upon said other portion substantially in vertical alignment with said recess, said support member having an aperture extending therethrough, said aperture having a longitudinal axis extending in the plane of said C-shaped body member,

said carrying device being formed in one piece of a plastic material. 

1. A device for carrying hangers of garments and the like comprising: a substantially C-shaped rigid body member having a handle portion with a recess in the lower surface thereof adapted to cooperate with a closet pole, said handle portion being of sufficient length to be gripped comfortably by the hand of a user, and another portion below said handle portion, and a depending support member mounted upon said other portion substantially in vertical alignment with said recess, said support member having an aperture extending therethrough which is adapted to receive and support the end portions of garment hangers in a manner such that the hangers are disposed in planes that are substantially the same as or parallel to the plane of the C-shaped body member, said carrying device being formed in one piece of plastic material, and said handle portion and said other portion being recessed and being surrounded by a reinforcing rib.
 2. A device for carrying hangers of garments and the like comprising: a substantially C-shaped rigid body member having a handle portion with a recess in the lower surface thereof adapted to cooperate with a closet pole, said handle portion being of sufficient length to be gripped comfortably by the hand of a user, and another portion below said handle portion, said other portion terminating below said recess and inwardly of the free end of said handle portion, and a depending support member mounted upon said other portion substantially in vertical alignment with said recess, said support member having an aperture extending therethrough, said aperture having a longitudinal axis extending in the plane of said C-shaped body member, said carrying device being formed in one piece of a plastic material. 